Character Study-Zhao

               Zhao is a great character. I think he was and still is under-appreciated because of being shown up by later villains. The guy is the perfect starting villain to me, and for a variety of reasons. In terms of personality, he works great. He's cocky, intelligent, ruthless, easily angered, and a little unstable. He doesn't develop really, just has some...aspects that were revealed over time. Mostly the raging insanity. Without him, the first season wouldn't have worked nearly as well. Mostly the reason Zuko is sympathetic at all is because he is able to play off Zhao's douchebaggery. His eventual fate, without spoilers, is a perfect representation of him as a whole, cocky arrogant and spiteful.

              Zhao is voiced by JASON ISAACS! The guy is decently prolific, but all you need to know is he plays Lucius Malfoy. The man has the perfect voice for this character, and fills it with as much arrogance, anger, and just plain sliminess as is humanly possible.

             Zhao's color might surprise you. Red, oddly enough, is his secondary color, not his main one. His main color is Black. The guy is very passionate sure, but what he wants is power, fame, and to go down in the history books as a great commander. And he is literally willing to do anything to do it. That is the essence of Black, really.

                      Overall, Zhao is my favorite villain of the series so far, and a definite contender for my favorites in any other western cartoon as well.